Plans are in process to make a sequel to the 1942 classic Hollywood film Casablanca.

Casablanca sequel is allegedly planned by Warner Bros

10:50AM GMT 30 Nov 2012 London Telegraph

Nearly 70 years after the release of the original film, plans are in process to make a sequel to Casablanca, the famous romantic drama starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

Current rumour is that Warner Bros is considering making a sequel to the timeless classic, entitled either Return to Casablanca or As Time Goes By. Its plot revolves around Richard Blaine, the illegitimate son of Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa Lund, who were separated at the end of the original movie. Blaine, who has been raised in the US by Lund and her husband Victor Laszlo, returns to North Africa to find out what became of his biological father.

The project is the brainchild of Cass Warner, a Hollywood producer, who was a close friend of the late Howard Koch, one the movie's three screenwriters.

Koch, wrote the guidelines for a sequel in the Eighties. Cass Warner, granddaughter of Warner Bros co-founder Harry Warner, was reportedly given the script by Koch and is pressing the studio to make a sequel.

However, sequels often involve the same actors, actresses or directors. In the case of Casablanca, director Michael Curtiz passed away 50 years ago, and the leading actors and actresses have all died as well. So will this be more of a remake?

Commenting in the Independent, Cass said: "There will be flashbacks, but it's a film about the next generation; a son going back to find what happened to his parents. I wouldn't want to touch the original for the world."

Naturally, film purists aren't happy. Fans frequently cite that the loose ends left by the original movie are one of its greatest charms. A new film would only compromise its predecessor.

Meanwhile, the piano used in the Oscar-winning film is expected to fetch more than 650,000 when it is sold next month at auction in New York.